Never to be Found
by Suzie Q. Blue Kazoo
Summary: DISCONTINUED STORY.
1. Prologue

She was gone.

She was gone, and that was that. Whether he liked it or not, it was the truth and he would have to accept it. There was no telling if it was some kind of a freak accident, or simply fate. But what's done is done, and that's all there is to it.

Simple as that.

Or, maybe more so, not simple at all.

Is death a simple thing? The concept can be mind boggling. One moment, you're here, the next, gone entirely. The outcome can be utterly painful, possibly more painful than death itself. Sadness will overcome the lives of friends and family. Sorrow, regret, despair – no, not so simple after all.

But she _was_ gone. He had lost her. There was no more he could do.

And that feeling of losing something, something precious and wonderful, was a truly terrible feeling. Yes, he had lost _something_. And do you know what that something was? Love.

Love, I assume, is one of the worst things to lose, for I hear it's awfully hard to find again.

_He_ did not find love again; he refused to look for it. He feared terribly that he may just lose it as he had before, and love is a _terrible_ thing to lose. Never could he love the way he loved her. Have I gotten my point across? He loved her _so_ much. And, from all that love, there was only one little thing left, and that little piece of love was named Nemo.


	2. In Which Dory Finds a Something

"Doesn't he **ever** smile?" was a common question addressed to Nemo about his father. "More now than he used to," was often a reply.

When Nemo had been taken by the divers, Marlin's deepest fears came into play. He had lost the last drop of love he had left in his middle-aged heart. Worst of all, the last sound of his son's voice before he had disappeared were three terrible words: I _Hate_ You.

How would you like it if your last drop of love had just told you he hated you?

Not so peachy-keen, huh?

Marlin didn't think so either.

But whether Nemo hated him or not didn't matter; all that mattered was that he find his only son. That's what love is – even if it's only a drop.

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Dory swam, as most fish do, and as she swam, she sang a small hum to herself. It wasn't on key and it didn't quite have a foot-tapping rhythm to it, but Dory found it amusing, as she is so very easily amused.

She was on her way to see Marlin, a good friend of hers, so she could ask him a very important question, which she had probably already forgotten by now, seeing as she is very forgetful. But as far as she was concerned, she had a very fine reason to be swimming so merrily, and it didn't matter that she couldn't quite remember what that reason was.

As she swam, she noticed a strange something floating carelessly nearby. She crept cautiously around it, wondering what it could be. As she examined the something, she realized it wasn't moving and, in fact, didn't even have a face, so she found it safe to take it with her. Now she can ask Marlin a question, which was her intension in the first place.

Nemo was waiting rather impatiently for Dory to arrive, so when he saw coming down the reef, he was jumping with glee. "Dad! Dad, Dory's here!" he shouted. Marlin poked his head out of the anemone as Nemo jolted in Dory's direction, attacking her with a great big hug.

"Hiya, Jojo!" she said happily

"That's Nemo, Dory," Marlin said swimming up to them.

"Nemo, right, got it," she said. "Hey!" she beamed, pushing the something she had found in their faces. "Look what I got!" Nemo looked at the long strip of pink fabric in awe. "Pretty neat, huh, Cello?"

"Nemo," Marlin said.

"Nemo, right, got it. Pretty neat, though, right?"

"What is it?" Nemo asked, poking it.

"I dunno, that's what I wanted to ask you," she said. "So, what is it, Marlin?"

"Well, how should I know?" he asked. "I was just sitting here, and –"

"Don't forget about Elmo," Dory said.

"Nemo,"

"Nemo, right got it. Him too," Dory said.

"Right. Nemo and I were just sitting here and –"

"Fish don't sit," Dory said.

"Dory…"

Right, sorry. Continue."

"Anyway, _we_ were just _here_, and along you come with some object-from-another-world, and you expect me to know what it is?" Marlin asked, now a bit aggravated with Dory.

Dory pondered this a moment and concluded with, "Yes."

"Well, I don't," he said.

Nemo suddenly sprang with an idea: "Can we _find out_ what it is?"

"Oh? And how do you plan to do that?" Marlin asked sternly.

"Dory, where did you find this – this thing?" Nemo asked, taking the thing from Dory's fins.

"A while back that way, I think," she said.

"Dad, can Dory and I go explore?" Nemo asked with excitement. Dory became thrilled at the idea_. Oh boy, an adventure_, she thought to herself.

"I don't know…"

"Pleeeeeease, Dad?" Nemo pleaded

"Yeah, Dad, Pleeeeease?" Dory chimed in.

"Don't worry, I can take care of Dory," Nemo said hoping that would reassure is worry-some father.

"Yes, but there's no one to look after you," Marlin said

"Nu-uh, I could do it!" Dory beamed.

"Dory, you can't even remember his name."

"Yeah-huh! Watch," she straightened out with her head held high and said rather confidently, "Chico. There, _see_?"

"Yes, I do. Nemo, you're not going."

"Aww, but Da-a-a-a-ad!" Nemo protested. He made a sad, pleading face, and Dory joined him. Marlin sighed with defeat.

"But I'm coming with you," he said.

"Eh, you know what they say: Two's company, Three's a crowd…" Dory said subtly.

"Dory..." Marlin said.

"Right, sorry," she apologized. "Woo-hoo! We're going exploring!" She and Nemo sang cheerfully while Marlin followed close behind. Dory held the pink fabric in her fin and the two of them began to take guesses as to what it was.

**Author's Notes**

**There. Now I've got a story starting. The previous chapter was more of an introduction that will come into affect later on. Still not a very long chapter, maybe they'll get longer. R&R Please and Thank You. :D**


	3. In Which We Go Exploring

Marlin swam close behind Nemo and Dory, but was sure to keep his distance, for he knew that if he got to close, Dory would tie him down in some wacko conversation that made no sense to either of them. And, frankly, Marlin was not in the mood for that.

"I tell ya, it's gotta be some weird kinda seaweed, doncha think?" Dory said to Nemo. Nemo disagreed. It certainly didn't feel like seaweed. Besides, what fun would it be to go around thinking it was just a piece of seaweed? There was tons of seaweed throughout the whole ocean! No, this had to be something far stranger than seaweed.

"Maybe it's a lizard tongue!" Nemo shrieked.

Dory knew that wasn't it. If it was lizard tongue, where was the lizard?

"What do _you_ think it is, Marlin?" Dory asked.

"Probably just a – oh, I don't know – maybe it's just a piece of a fishing net or something?" he muttered, uninterested in any way possible.

"Wow, way to think outside the box, _Marlin_," Dory laughed.

Eventually, they came to an open area where Dory said she had found the something. Nemo looked around for clues (maybe a lizard corpse missing its tongue?).

Dory swam over to Nemo, who was looking under rocks and inside hallow logs. "Watcha doing?" Dory asked him.

"Looking," he said.

"For what?" she asked.

"Clues."

"What for?"

"To find out what that is," Nemo pointed to the pink strip of fabric in Dory's hand.

Dory was thrown back with shock. "Woah!" she exclaimed. "What _is_ this thing?"

"That's what we're – "

"Hey! Look up there!" she swam up closer to the surface.

"Dory, no!" Marlin shouted. "That's a –"

Hey, look, a boat!" she said. She casually popped her head out of the water to get a better view.

In the boat, a little girl and her younger brother were talking and eating lunch with their grandfather. Dory thought they looked very nice, for they were all dressed up, probably from going to church earlier that day, and now enjoying a picnic on sea. The little girl saw Dory and smiled.

"Hello, little fishy," the girl said happily. Dory smiled at her, waved her fin, and dove back under the water.

"Dory, what are you thinking?" Marlin asked. "They could have killed you!"

"Oh, please, they're nice people," Dory said, as if she had known them her whole life. "C'mon, I want you to meet them," she said taking marlin's fin.

Marlin pulled back, releasing Dory's grip. "Are you crazy!?"

"Of course not, silly. Now, then, let's go and –"

"Dory, no, it's too dangerous," Marlin said.

Dory frowned and turned to Nemo. "Will you come meet them, Clapo?"

Nemo looked at Dory, then his dad, then the boat above them. Now, Nemo was commonly the adventurous type, but he had a terrible past with boats. Marlin gave him a stern look

"You can trust me," Dory said happily. Nemo nodded and followed Dory to the surface, ignoring his father's shouts.

"Nemo! Get back here! Nemo!" Marlin swam after the two, and when he poked his head out of the water, the little girl was there to greet him.

"Oh, look, Grampa, a little Daddy fish!" she said. A little boy leaned over the edge of the boat and scooped the three up in a jar. Marlin's eyes widened and he began to panic.

"Don't worry, fishies, I won't hurt you," the boy said. Dory easily took his word for it, whereas Marlin learned to never trust a human.

"Look, Grampa!" the girl shouted, pointing to the cloth in Dory's fin. "She found my ribbon!"

Grampa bent down and looked in the jar. "So she did," he said. He reached into the jar and plucked the ribbon from Dory's fin. "There you go," he said handing it to his granddaughter. "Looks like the little fish wanted to return it to you," he said.

"Can we keep them, Grampa?" the girl asked.

"I don't think so, Dearie. These fish need to stay in the ocean where they belong. Besides, what would your mother think? You know how she despises pets."

"Oh, but we would feed them and take care of them, we promise we would!" the girl said. "Right, Sammy?" she asked her brother.

"Right," he replied.

"No. They need to stay in the ocean."

Sorrow in her eyes, she plopped the fish back in the ocean. Relieved, Marlin swam as far away from the boat as he could without losing sight of Dory and Nemo.

"See? I told you they were nice people!" Dory said, satisfied with herself.

"Yes, Dory," Marlin said. "Now can we go?" Nemo swam to his father and Dory began to follow, until she noticed something written on the side of the boat. She felt the need to read it, for she didn't get to read often. "Dory, let's go!" Marlin shouted to her.

"Just a second!" she replied. She began to sound out the writing. It said:

SYDNEY HARBOR BOAT RENTAL

"Hey! This guy's from Sydney! Just like when –"

_Scoop. Click._

"Dory?"

Dory was swept into a jar and before she knew it the lid was snapped on tight. "Hey! What's the big idea? Marlin? Beebo? Hey! Where are you guys?" She panicked and started hitting herself against the glass.

"Shh," the little boy whispered as he hid the jar under his jacket. "We're gonna take you home with us!" The children giggled with excitement, to which their grandfather was completely oblivious.

"Dory?" Marlin asked. "Dory?!" He turned frantically looking every which-way but he couldn't see her anywhere.

"Dad, the boat!" Nemo shouted.

"Oh, no. Dory!" he swam as fast as his little fins could take him, but it was too late. The boat motor started up and was gone before Marlin even had a chance.

**Author's Notes**

**So, Wadda you think? Do you like it? Does it happen too fast? Too slow? Just right? Please, let me know what you think of it. Your opinion matters!**

**And if you like it, feel free to recommend it to your pals, heh heh. I'd love all the reviews I can get!**

**Thanks!**


	4. In Which Dory Gets a New Name

"Dory…?"

'_She was gone…'_

"Dory…!"

'_She was gone, and that was that.'_

Marlin watched as the boat drove away. He just stood there and watched as that darn boat drove away with his best friend on board. The poor fish was paralyzed. He simply _couldn't _move. So he stood, and as he stood, he began to cry.

Three times had this poor aging fish lost the same thing. Three times.

'_Sorrow, regret, despair –'_

"Dad," Nemo said slowly. "Dad, we're gonna go _find_ her, right?"

Marlin said nothing.

"Dad? Dad, we _have_ to go find her. We're gonna, aren't we?"

Marlin's eyes swelled up with tears as he shook his head.

'_Love, I assume, is one of the worst things to lose…'_

"But – but Dad –"

'… _for I hear it's awfully hard to find again.'_

"We're home, Mother!" two little children shouted as they came through the door. "We had a wonderful lunch with Grampa," the girl said. She bent over and whispered in her little brother's ear, "Go take the fishy up to our room and hide her there."

"Right," the boy said. With Dory still under his jacket, he crept up the stairs and into the bedroom. "Now, then," the boy said to Dory. "Where's a good place so Mother won't find you?" He thought about putting her under his bed, but he worried that the monsters might get her, so he settled with the highest shelf in the closet. "Don't worry," he said as he climbed onto a chair. "We'll get you a nice big bowl as soon as we can, okay?"

Dory was relived at that. A jar isn't exactly the roomiest place for a fish.

"I'll be right back," he said, closing the closet doors and leaving the room.

Dory looked around her. "Now how did I get up here?" she asked herself. "And why's it so dark?" She pondered this a moment, until the doors opened and light poured in like a glass of lemonade. "Ah, that's better. Thank you." Two small hands took the jar off the shelf and set it down on a wooden desk.

"Now," the little girl said to her brother. "What shall we name her?"

"How do you know it's a _her_?" the boy asked firmly.

"Why do think she was holding a _pink_ ribbon, hmm?" she said placing her hands on her hips. Her little brother thought about this for a minute.

"Good point," he said. "Okay, so wadda you wanna name_ her_?" He bent down to get a better look of Dory.

"Lila's a pretty name," the girl said dreamily.

"_Lila_?" he said bitterly. "Lila ain't no fishy name. It's gotta be a _fishy _name!"

"Well, fine! What do _you_ want to name her?"

The boy looked at Dory carefully. "How about Mango?" The girl looked at her brother like he was a madman.

"What kind of a dumb name is Mango?" she asked.

"It's a good name!"

"Yeah, for a fruit!"

"Well, do you have any better ideas?" the boy shouted, crossing his arms.

The girl pressed her finger to her lips and thought. "What about Bluey?"

"Bluey's a dumb name."

"It's way better than Mango!"

"No it isn't!"

"Children!" their mother shouted from downstairs. "What's going on up there?"

"Nothing, Mother!" they chimed.

"Well, keep the noise down, alright?" she shouted.

"Yes, Mother!"

"No, Dad!" Nemo called after his father. "Dad, you can't just leave Dory like that!"

"Nemo," Marlin said in voice so quiet, it was almost completely inaudible. "I can't keep doing this. Every time someone – and I just –" he stopped for a moment and turned to face his son, " – I lose them, Nemo. I just – I can't keep losing…" his voice trail off into upset mumbles.

"But, we have to try, Dad," Nemo said. "We can't sit around and do _nothing_." Marlin turned and swam away. "Dad…?" No Response. "Dad, you can't just – Dad!" Nemo swam after his father. "Dad, we have to _try_!" Silence. "Don't even _care_?!"

Marlin stopped. "You think I don't care?" he said, facing Nemo again. "You think I don't_ care_ that my best friends was – was _taken_ from me!?"

"So we're gonna go find her, then. Right?" Nemo said after a long silence.

Marlin looked at Nemo with sad eyes. He remembered that feeling he had, that terrible feeling, when Nemo was taken from him. He remembered how he would rest at nothing in order to find his son.

And then, he remembered meeting Dory.

Dory was the only one who was willing to help him find Nemo. In fact, if it wasn't for her, he never would have been able to figure out what the markings on the mask even meant.

He owed it to her.

"C'mon, Nemo," he said, swimming in the boat's direction. "We got a fish to find."

**Author's Notes**

**Once again, not very long chapter, but I like it anyway ******

**((Psst! Didja notice my reference of the first chapter? *Points to Prologue* *Points to top of chapter four* See? Pretty cool, huh?))**

**Thank you for your lovely reviews ******** *does a Yay-I-got-good-reviews dance* You're wonderful people, really, you are!**


	5. In Which Dory Eats Bread

**Author's Notes**

***Has total burst of confidence because of awesome reviews* Dudes, you so totally rock! Hehe, but seriously, I am totally appreciating your nice words ^_^ Every one of them is so nice and it makes me smile real big ******

**But enough of my ranting…**

**On to chapter five!!**

After much controversy, the children finally agreed on a name for their new fish. Now, you must understand that these two had been arguing for a little over an hour, and frankly, both were becoming very tired of it.

"What about Confetti?" the boy asked, though it was rather hard to understand; because of all the frustration over this silly back-and-forth, he had planted his face onto the desk surface, which was muffling his words as he spoke them.

The girl, after thinking it over for quite a short time, agreed.

Her brother shot his head up in surprise; had they finally chosen a name? Indeed they had! _What a relief_, they both thought. It really was a silly conversation the two were having, and both were pleased to have it over with.

"So, Confetti it is, then," she spoke her thoughts aloud. "Now then," she said, turning to her brother, "I suppose we ought to find her a bigger house. That jar is much too small! Look," she pointed to Confetti, "she can hardly move!"

The children ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, hoping to find a large bowl of some sort. Dory, er… _Confetti_, I should say, was left alone with her thoughts, so to speak. The poor fish was terribly confused, unaware of what was going on. She couldn't remember a thing! That's typical of her though, you should have seen that coming. Of course she would forget!

Though, somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she had lost _something_. She just could remember _what_, exactly.

"Sydney," Nemo replied after his dad had repeatedly mumbled that he had no idea where to look for Dory.

"Nemo, you can't just _assume_ they took her to Sydney. Just because _you _were taken there doesn't mean that –"

"Dad, weren't you listening? Dory read the markings on the boat. She said it was from Sydney."

"She did?" Nemo nodded. "You sure?" he nodded again. "Oh," Marlin said, a tad embarrassed. _I'm beginning to sound like Dory!_ he thought to himself. "Well, sheesh, we may as well just build a house in that stupid city, seeing as we make so many rescue missions over there," he said rather sarcastically.

"Hurry up!" the little girl shouted to her brother.

"I'm (_oof!_) coming!" he grumbled, carrying a large, transparent container full of water up the stairs.

"Hurry, before Mother sees you!" she urged. "And stop spilling!"

"I'm trying!" he whispered angrily at his forcefully demanding sister. "And, why, exactly (_ack!_) aren't _you _doing any of the work?"

"I'm keeping _watch_, that's why! Now come _on_, already!" The boy reached the top of the steps and stopped to take a breather. "Sammy, _come __**on**_!" the girl was clearly getting aggravated with her brother, and he was certainly aggravated with her as well.

He waddled his way into the bedroom and set the container on the desk with a thud. His sister popped the lid off the jar and dumped Confetti into her new home. "Is that better, Confetti?" she asked as she watched the little fish swim happily throughout the container. "Good."

"What do we feed her?" the boy asked. Uh-oh. She hadn't thought about that, not even for a moment!

"Erm… we'll have to feed her bits of bread for now, I guess. That is, until we can buy some fish food," she said quickly. "Run down to the kitchen and grab a slice of bread. But don't let Mother see you. Oh, and a baggie to put it in for later. Now go!"

"Why do I hafta? Why can't you this time?"

"Because! I have to keep watch! Now _go_, Sammy!" she said pushing her brother out the door.

Defeated, Sammy walked casually down the steps and into the kitchen. As he had expected, Mother was making dinner.

"Hello, Mother," he said delightfully.

"Hello, Dear," she said, stirring some sauce. "What have you and your sister been doing in your room all afternoon?"

"Um, putting a puzzle together," he answered.

"Oh? Did you finish it?"

"Yes," he said proudly.

"May I come up and see it?" she asked putting the spoon down and untying her apron.

"NO!" he shouted, flailing his arms in the air like a madman. "Er, what I mean is…" he thought for a moment. "What I mean is, we already put it away. Sorry."

"Oh, what a shame," she said, retying the apron and picking up the spoon. "I'm sure it was lovely."

"It was alright, I guess," he said. "What are you making?" he asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"Spaghetti."

"With meatballs?" he asked excitedly.

"Yes."

"Oh, good, that's my favorite," he stated. He slowly inched his way over to the bread box.

"Yes, I know," she said, her back turned to him. He slowly opened the rolling top of the bread box and grabbed a slice. Slyly, he creaked open one of the cabinets and snatched a Ziplock baggie.

"Well, call me when dinner's ready," he said, altogether too quickly, making him sound rather suspicious, but his mother hadn't noticed. He crept out of the kitchen, sliding the bread and baggie under his shirt in case his mother was to look at him.

"Alright, Dear," Mother said. He turned the corner, ran up the steps, and darted strait to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

"What_ took_ you so long?" his sister asked sternly.

"Mother was in there, I had to stall her!"

"Very well, then. Give me the bread, won't you?" He handed the bread to his sister who broke it into a very, very small crumb and tossed it to Confetti. She threw in four other crumbs around the same size and saved the rest of the bread for later. She took the bag from her brother and placed the bread into it.

"Tomorrow after school we'll have to stop by the pet shop and get a few cans of fish food," she told her brother. He nodded and picked up the container.

"Now, into the closet with you. Wouldn't want Mother to see," Sammy said, picking up the large container. His sister opened the closet doors for him and he stepped carefully onto a chair. He slid the container onto the shelf and hopped back to the ground. "There. Mother will never find you here," he said, feeling quite accomplished.

"Sammy! Clarice! Dinner's ready!" their mother called.

"Coming, Mother," they sang. Clarice set the baggie on the shelf next to Confetti and closed the doors. They ran happily down the steps, leaving their new fish all alone on the highest shelf in the closet.

**Author's Notes**

**Taa-daa! Did you enjoy? I hope so ******

**I wrote this chapter kind of quickly, but I had fun with it. At this point in time, I'm going to assume most of my chapters will be about this length, just because I hate dragging things out.**

**Heh-heh-heh, I have a surprise for you!! It should come up in the next two chapters. Hee hee, can't wait! **

**Your kind words are always appreciated!**


	6. In Which Dory Dislikes the Darkness

**Author's Notes**

**I'm so ashamed of myself. ******

**I completely forgot about this story. I mean, so many things have been going on: I started high school (that's a biggie), I've been working really hard on my artwork, and then, you know, there's that whole homework thing.**

**SO, yeah. I can't apologize enough, I'm so sorry.**

**I forgot what I had planned for this story and now I have no idea what to write.**

…**But I'm gonna try anyway.**

**Here's chapter six:**

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She woke up the next day to the wildest and most frightening noise she had ever heard in her entire life. She began swimming violently back and forth, panicking, partly because the sound was so painful to listen to, and partly because she couldn't see a thing, even though (and she checked) her eyes were wide open. The noise grew louder, and as time passed, the outrageous, ear-splitting beep began to harvest itself into her noggin. Oh, make it stop!

As if by magic, the noise descended completely. Quiet shuffles and yawns could be heard, though she had no clue where on earth they we coming from.

Suddenly, the darkness was devoured by an overpowering source of light that blinded her at first, but she very quickly adjusted to it all. She looked around her, never more confused in her life.

Above, she saw little bits of bread falling from the sky. Her stomach growled. Perfect timing.

"Good morning, Confetti," said a face that very suddenly appeared right in front of her. A few more bread crumbs fell into the container and she gobbled them down as fast as she could. She waited patiently for more, but instead was placed back into the dark.

She blinked a few times, as her eyes adjusted, and she had come to the conclusion that she did not like the dark. No, she didn't like it at all.

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They now had pulled together twenty-three dollars and sixteen cents. Clarice had given up her lunch money for the next three days and Sammy had donated all the money he had earned from selling his old toys (money which he had been saving up to buy a few new comic books, but felt this was a worthier cause). The two planned on using this money to buy a few nice things for their new fish.

"We can meet after school and run to the pet shop real quick, but we can't take too long," Clarice warned her brother. "Mother might become worried if we're too late home from school." The boy agreed, and they went their separate ways into the small school building.

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Marlin retraced his steps as best he could from memory of his last trip to Sydney. Hitherto, he began to wonder how, in any possible manner, was he going to find Dory, or even figure out where in Sydney she might be, and, while we're on the subject, how he'd be able to get to her, if he ever discovered her location. For Marlin, as you know, is a fish, and fish, as you may also know, cannot walk around on land so merrily the way we humans do. No, no, fish have no feet.

A plan was in need of coming to order.

For such a timid old thing, Marlin seemed like quite an adventurous fish. Battling sharks, facing the fierce wrath of stinging jelly fish, yes, quite an adventurous creature indeed.

Or, maybe not.

Throughout his entire trip, Marlin had an ever-foreboding fear, a notion that something bad might happen, and part of him was telling him to simply turn around and go home, to forget any of this had ever happened.

To simply forget…

**Author's Notes**

**As always, not a very long chapter. I hope this satisfying enough for you, and again, I apologize for such a long wait, I hope this chapter was worth it (maybe, maybe not).**

**It's up to you guys: if you want me to continue, say so, and I will.**

**Reviews are nice.**


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